Flash Feelings and Fluffy Friends?
by Ravings1
Summary: After a chance encounter, a little Cinderace will have to come to terms with his feelings for a certain Lopunny.
1. Prologue

"Order for Lee!" I called out, setting the meal on the counter before hoppingoff to prepare another order, seeing the customer in question coming up to retrieve their food.

"Sear, the order for Rae should be about done. I'm sorry, but could you get that while I'm busy here?" Rose, a Sylveon, called out from the register to my left as I ran past. I looked up to her, giving her a dismissive wave.

"I got it, don't worry about it!" I smiled. Rose gave a thankful nod before turning back to the customer she was with.

My name is Sear, I'm a 21 year old Cinderace. I'm a full-time employee at my local coffee shop, Café Silver, a small one tucked away between a couple streets which was once owned by Rose's parents, but is now in her hands. It's certainly not the most popular café in town, but we still have our busy days, today being one of those busy days.

As for me, I'm a pretty normal Cinderace, maybe a bit wimpy and shy, but for the most part, I'm a run of the mill Cinderace, except for one aspect. I'm two feet tall, as opposed to any other cinderace, which average about 4'7" in height. I was born with a rare condition called microsm. This condition causes the Pokemon born with it to be born much smaller than normal with no other side effects.

While this condition of mine has created some obstacles in life, I've managed to overcome them with enough hard work and help, both from the help of friends and family. Plus, the fact that Pokemon society is built to accommodate Pokemon of all sizes certainly made things easier for me. Because of that, my current job hasn't been impossible to work, despite me being the smallest on our team by a couple feet.

Though, probably the hardest aspect of my life has been dating. Most other Cinderaces aren't too keen on the thought of dating a male shorter than them, especially one that is barely half their height. There's also the fact that I don't have much confidence when it comes to dating, much less flirting. Despite everything, I don't let it bother me, it's become one of those aspects to my life that I've come to disregard.

Once I made it to the back of the cafe, I hopped onto a stool, opening up the oven to retrieve the two croissants waiting inside for the next customer. Thanks to my fire typing, the heat emanating from the oven hardly bothered me**, **it was more comforting if anything. As I grabbed two pieces of bread and placed them into paper bags, I heard the sound of running. A moment later, a vaporeon skidded to a stop by my side, seemingly shocked by my presence.

"Oh! Sear! I didn't… sorry, I was busy with a table and forgot about the food." She rubbed the back of her head, looking apologetic. I shook my head.

"Don't worry about it, Aquari, I got it before it burned. I'll go ahead and take care of this one." I responded, giving her another smile. She smiled back and nodded.

"Thank you, Sear. I'll go ahead and start the next order then. Also, the coffee is already on the counter, you just need to bring the croissants." She said, stepping past me to prepare the next order of food. Bagging up the food nicely, I jumped off the stool and made my way to the front. As I rounded the corner, I nearly ran into a pair of legs, though I managed to reach a stop before I collided with them.

"Crap, sorry Sear!" Rose apologized, surprised at my sudden presence. "Are you alright?" She bent down slightly, checking to see if I was hurt.

"I'm alright, didn't even run into you." I smiled sheepishly up to her. Rose smiled in relief.

"Good. I'll get out of your way then." She said, stepping to the side and allowing me to continue on my path. I eventually reached the counter and hopped onto the stool, placing the two croissants on top.

"Order for Rae!" I called out. Seeing that none of the Pokemon in my immediate vision were coming to collect the meal, I leaned over the counter slightly and looked to my right to see if the customer was coming from that direction to collect their order. Still no. Suddenly, I heard soft, yet heavy footfalls to my left, leading me to assume that the Pokemon in question was quite large. However, when I turned towards them, I didn't expect to be met with the sight before me.

Rae was a lopunny, dressed in a black hoodie and jeans, a pink side purse by her hip. But the fact she was a lopunny was not the surprising part. One small part of the surprise was that she was a shiny Pokemon, a rarity to see on its own, but I've seen many at this point in my life working my job. The other part, and easily the larger part of the surprise was that she was tall, giant even. She was easily more than double the height of a regular lopunny. I could only assume she was close to nine feet tall, allowing her to tower over me even with the added height the stool gave me. She gave me a gentle smile as she reached the side of the counter, the top of her knees just short of clearing the countertop. I reasoned that her height came from a condition opposite to mine; macrosm. While born a normal size, Pokemon with macrosm grow larger than normal.

I must have been staring for too long, because after a moment, she spoke up.

"Um, this was the order for Rae, right?" She asked, tilting her head cutely. I snapped out of my stupor, realizing that I was stalling.

"O-oh, yes, sorry about that. Here's your meal ma'am." I stuttered out, lifting the bags and cup as high as I could. She thankfully squatted down, making my task easier to achieve. She grabbed the bags and cup in her large hands, the large sizedcup looking more akin to a small sized cup in her grasp. Once securely holding her meal, she once again rose to her full height, giving me one last smile before turning away and walking off.

I couldn't help but watch her as she made her way out, ducking below the door frame in order to avoid bumping her head. I stood there for another moment, trying to process what had happened.

"Are you alright, Sear?" I heard Rose call out from behind me. I swiveled around, seeing her standing by the corner, a hand on her side to compliment her barely contained smirk, with Aquariri by her side, poking her head out from the back, a hand over her snickering smile. "Getting lovestruck in the middle of work?" She teased, smirking. I could feel my face and ears heating up. I pulled my apron over my nose in an attempt to hide the blush that had more than likely appeared on my face as I averted my eyes.

"Shut up." I mumbled, completely flustered. "I'm going on my break now. Away from you two." I announced, hopping off the stool and making my way to the back to clock out, never letting the apron down, even as I passed by the two sisters.

"Try not to think too hard about her, Sear. Though I must say, she is pretty cute." Aquariri teased as I passed by. My white fur must have been the same shade of pink as the lopunny's ears by now.

"I'm being harassed!" I jokingly cried out, though my embarrassment was still clearly present. Aquari laughed at my anguish, while Rose simply chuckled. I groaned, rolling my eyes as I hopped up to the chair, having to sit on my knees to reach the keyboard. Even though Aquari joked about it, I couldn't stop thinking about the lopunny.

'_Rae, huh?' _I thought. I couldn't get her image out of my head. Perhaps it was because she was so unique as both a shiny and a giant that made my mind run circles around her. It's impossible for it to be because I fell in love, I don't even believe in love at first sight. I sighed as I sat back into the oversized seat, looking to the far away ceiling.

I wondered if I would get the chance to see her again.

. . . . .

**Cover art by Chippani.**

**Edited by Lunarkitten707.**


	2. Chapter 1

It was 8:40, near closing time for Café Silver. The only Pokemon present in the café were Rose, Aquari, and the small Sear. With his tasks done, Sear had taken to leaning over the counter and staring out into the night through the windowed wall of the front of the café. Sear had always loved the night sky, the calm, twinkling of the stars, the coolness in the air, the dim moonlight shining down. Sear let out a sigh of content, a small smile on his face as he continued to stare out into space's intriguing nothingness.

"Still thinking about that Lopunny, lover boy?" Jerked back to reality, Sear's face morphed into flustered shock, his ears standing up in shock as his whole head heated up in embarrassment.

"No, Rose!" Sear cried out, pulling his ears down to the sides of his face, refusing to look at the Sylveon behind him. Rose simply chuckled at her friend's flustered state, it never did take much to embarrass him.

"Relax, I'm only teasing." Rose smiled, placing down a very small cup she held in between her fingers near Sear's head, getting the rabbit Pokemon's attention. Sear turned to the cup, seeing it was filled with hot chocolate and topped with tiny marshmallows floating at the top of the dome lid, complete with a dollop of whipped cream. Just to his liking.

"Thanks, Rose." Sear smiled, relaxing his ears, standing up, and taking the cup in his small hands, the minuscule cup seeming normal sized in his grasp. Sear took a quick sip, swelling up with joy as the warm chocolate entered his mouth.

"Of course, Sear. Come on. Me and Aquari are done with everything." Rose motioned to follow her. Sear nodded, carefully hopping down from the stool and jogging to keep up with his much taller boss. Leaving the confines of the work area, the two made their way to a nearby table, where Aquari was waiting for their arrival. Every night, around closing time, the three have had a tradition of getting drinks and spending time together before heading out for the night.

Rose took the seat opposite of her sister while Sear chose to sit next to the water type, jumping up onto the couch. Aquari quickly grabbed the pillow to her left and placed it down for the little rabbit to sit on and reach the table. Sear thanked her, climbing onto the pillow and making himself comfortable. Rose took a drink of her own beverage, a simple strawberry smoothie, alongside her sister, who opted to drink a small glass of milk.

"Thank you two for working hard today." Rose stated once she was finished with her sip. "I know today was busy, but I appreciate your efforts. Even if _one _of you got a little distracted today." She gave Sear a coy look, the fire type responding with a groan and looking away.

"You two aren't going to let me live this down, are you?" He questioned, a blush present on his snow white fur.

"Well, it's certainly not everyday we catch you gawking at a customer." Aquari quipped, earning her a flustered whine from her coworker. "I had no idea you were into taller girls, Sear, much less interspecies dating." The girl continued, giggling as her teasing tore deeper into Sear.

"First, I don't really have a choice, given my condition." Sear countered, trying to defend himself despite his clear embarrassment. "Second, I'm…" Sear tried to think, choosing to consider his next words carefully, lest he bring upon himself more teasing. "I'm not _against_ the idea of being in an interspecies relationship, but I'm not _into_ it."

Inter-species relationships, while not illegal, nor really frowned upon, aren't seen as _normal_. Most Pokemon try to date and marry within their own species, inter-species couples tend to be given weird looks and be judged by those around them.

"Don't worry, we won't judge if decide to date out of your species." Rose winked, causing Sear to law face down on the table and place his arms over his head in a poorly crafted attempt of escaping the current conversation. "Though, I must say, that lopunny was certainly unique. To be both a shiny and… what was the condition opposite to yours?"

"Macrosm?" Sear mumbles in reply, face still planted firmly on the table.

"Right." Rose said, idly spinning the straw in her cup with her pink finger. "The odds of that, I can't even begin to imagine. What was her name again? Rae right?"

"Yeah, her name was Rae." Aquari confirmed. "She's easily the most unique Pokemon to come here, aside for our Sear here of course." She stated, absentmindedly petting the little Pokemon's head, initially startling Sear with her sudden touch, but he soon relaxed into the rhythmic motion of her hand. "I wonder what life is like living with macrosm."

"Probably the opposite to mine." Sear chimed in, still leaning into Aquari's petting. She always has been affectionate. "There are probably a lot of things that are a little too small for her. She had to duck underneath the doorway, not to mention that her drink looked small, despite it being our largest size."

"I saw that. The place really isn't suited for larger Pokemon. If she ends up becoming a regular, it might be time to start renovating."

"Would it really be a good idea to renovate for a single customer, Rose?" Aquari asked, ceasing her petting, much to Sear's silent disappointment.

"If we do, it might entice other larger Pokemon to start paying attention to this place." Rose reasoned. "At the very least, we should get a larger door as soon as possible." She motioned towards the door.

"Well, I guess that makes sense." Aquari agreed, looking towards the door. "Oh, it's started snowing." She pointed out, getting the other two to follow her gaze. Sure enough, white, fluffy flakes were gently fluttering down, quickly creating a white cover blanketing the ground.

"I thought the news said there wasn't going to be snow." Sear frowned, taking an unenthusiastic drink of his cocoa.

"Do you want to ride with us? So you don't have to trek through the snow on your way home?" Aquari offered. Being small, Sear was more susceptible to the cold, despite being a fire type. Sear was about to accept, but Rose suddenly spoke up.

"Unless you want to stay with us for the night again." She said. Sear closed his mouth, mulling over the offer in his head.

"Well, if you're alright with it. It'd be nice to have company tonight." Sear gave a small smile, before before being scooped up into a hug by Aquari.

"Sleep over!" The taller girl squealed in joy, gently cuddling her smaller friend, who was burning up in embarrassment, becoming a little ball of warmth for the water type. Rose simply shook her head, smiling at her sisters childlike joy.

"T-thank you both. I really appreciate this." Sear stuttered out, despite being a flustered mess. Rose gave him a warm and comforting smile.

"Of course, Sear. You're like family at this point. Plus, as you can see," she nodded to her sister. "someone clearly enjoys this."

"It's fun having him over!" Aquari retorted, allowing Sear to get back to his seat. Rose simply rolled her eyes.

"Right, right. Well I hope you're enthusiastic about taking the trash out too." Rose smirked, picking up her empty cup in one of her feelers and drifting it over to Aquari. "Don't think I didn't notice that you avoided taking out the trash earlier."

"Aw, c'mon, it can wait till tomorrow, can't it? When it's warmer out?" Aquari gave her best puppy dog eyes, but Rose had grown immune to it over the years. She raised an eyebrow as her smirk faded, telling Aquari that she wasn't joking around. After a moment, Aquari huffed. "Fine." She grumbled, taking her and Rose's cup. Sear quickly ate a few more marshmallows before handing his own cup to her, thanking her. Once Aquari was gone, Rose leaned over the table, talking in a hushed tone.

"So Sear, serious questioned. Did you actually fall in love with that Lopunny earlier?" She asked. Sear's eyes widened in surprise.

"What?! No!" He blurted out, before covering his mouth, realizing he shouted. After a moment, he regained his composure. "I didn't. It was just surprising seeing someone like her."

"I'm not asking to tease you, I'm legitimately curious. I've never seen you just freeze up like that." Sear looked away, not knowing what to say next. Seeing that Sear wasn't going to say anything in response, Rose continued turning more concerned as she spoke. "Sear, are you lonely?" Sear was once again caught off guard.

"Well, no, not really. I guess having a girlfriend would be nice. But I'm not desperate. Really, dating isn't something I think about too much. Plus you know I'm bad when it comes to flirting, I wouldn't know the first thing to do."

"Plus, you also think that girls aren't going to want to date you because of your small size, right?" Rose inquired, to which Sear nodded. "I completely understand. Most girls aren't willing to date a guy shorter than them. Just like many guys don't want to date a girl taller than them. I've experienced that myself, being 5 '7 myself." Sear almost forget how tall she was. She was more than a whole foot taller than her species average. Rose let out a little sad sigh before continuing.

"But I know that I'll eventually run into someone who won't care about how tall I am. The same goes for you. Also, so what if you're bad at flirting? So am I."

"Really? You? But you seem so confident." Sear tilted his head.

"When I'm talking to a friend or even a stranger, sure. But when it comes to a guy I have a crush on? I completely shut off. Anyway, I've gotten off topic as to what I wanted to say." She waved her hand. "If you're ever feeling down, or just need someone to talk to, know I'm always willing to lend an ear." She smiled, reaching over and scratching the back of Sear's ear, who closed his eyes and hummed in bliss.

"There, trash is out." Aquari announced, walking back into the room. "Can we leave now?"

"Yeah, we can get going." Rose smiled, getting up by her seat, soon followed by Sear. "Ready Sear?"

"I'm ready. But, can we stop by my house? Just so I can get a change of clothes."

"Of course." Rose nodded, retrieving her keys from her pocket. Seeing that everyone was finally ready to leave, Aquari smiled, joining up with the small group. After making sure that all of the other doors were locked, the three exited through the front door. Chills ran up Sear's body as soon as he placed a paw on the icy ground.

"D-damn it…" Sear's teeth chattered, the cold affecting him more than either Rose or Aquari. Seeing Sear freezing, Rose closed and locked the café's front door as quickly as possible. She then headed to her car, quickly followed by Sear and Aquari. She first opened up the back seat, allowing the small fire type to leap in and escape the snow layered ground.

Though still cold, Sear sighed in relief. He picked up one of the blankets next to him, struggling a bit with the weight due to his size. He eventually managed to get it around himself, only using a small portion of the blanket to wrap himself up. He then topped it off by securing himself in the seat with the seat belt as best he could.

Aquari and Rose soon joined him in the car, taking the front seats. Aquari reached back and took another blanket from the back, covering herself before buckling up as well as Rose started the car. As the three drove down to Sear's house, the small rabbit's mind started to wonder, and he found himself thinking of Rae once again. He blushed, shaking his head in an attempt to expel the girl from his mind. Why did she leave such an impression on him in that short encounter?

Eventually the three made it to Sear's house.

"I always forget that you live in an average sized home." Aquari commented.

"It's convenient for guests, since you two can stand up fully." Sear responded, undoing his seatbelt and taking off the blanket. He reached up and open the car door, taking a look at the snowy ground, sighing. Taking a deep breath, he leapt out of the car, hopping through the snow as quickly as possible.

"Cold, cold, cold cold, cold, cold!" He repeated to himself every time his paws made contact with icy ground. He hurriedly took out his keys, unlocked the door to his house and rushed in. After a long moment, Sear ran back outside, making sure to close and lock the door to his house. He was dressed in fire themed pajamas, and carrying a spare uniform by his side, along with a small bag with a toothbrush, toothpaste, and a brush.

Just as quickly as he left, he made his way back to the car, diving in and quickly closing the door and wrapping himself in the blanket once more, trying to get warm as fast as possible without starting a fire. Aquari couldn't help but giggle at the sight. Once again, Rose started driving, to her house this time.

"The cold sucks…" Sear grumbled, mostly to himself as he continued to shiver.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure the house is nice and warm when we get there." Rose said, taking a quick glance back at him. Sear smiled at her, though she didn't see it as she turned back to the road.

"Thanks Rose."

. . . . .

Eventually, the three made it to Rose's and Aquari's house. Rose was the first to enter, shortly followed by Aquari and Sear, the latter of whom was riding on the water type's shoulders to avoid the cold of the snow.

"Seems like the heaters already on." Rose noted, feeling the warmth of the house as she closed the door.

"I'll be back, I'm going to change real quick." Aquari said, lifting Sear off her shoulders and gently placing him on the ground before heading to her bedroom.

"Are you going to get changed too, Rose?" Sear inquired from his taller friend.

"Hm? Oh, yeah. But I think I'm going to head to bed early. I know you and Aquari are probably going to stay up for a bit more, right?"

"More than likely, yeah." Sear chuckled. "We're probably going to play some card games or something."

"Well, alright. I'll make sure to give you your blanket and pillow before I sleep. Aquari can help you get settled in her room for the night." Rose said before heading off to her own room. A moment later, Aquari emerged from her room, dressed in her own water themed pajamas and struggling to hold several blankets and pillows that would be used to make a nest in the living room.

"Alright Sear, what do you want to do?"


	3. Chapter 2

"Hey, Sear, wake up." Sear groaned, being disturbed from his peaceful slumber as something persistently poking him. Slowly creaking his eyes open, he was met with a blue, pink and white ribbon-like feeler reeling back from him. Following the feeler with his eyes, he found the larger figure of Rose kneeling over him, smirking. "Comfortable?"

"Mm, what?" He questioned, attempting to raise his arms to stretch, he found that he was being restricted by something. Looking down, there were two large, blue arms holding him down. Putting two and two together, Sear eyes widened as the fur on his face flushed a deep pink once he realized the situation he woke up to. Rose couldn't help but chuckle as Sear struggled to get out of Aquari's grip without waking her.

Sear wasn't even entirely sure how he got into this situation. He remembers staying up to play video games and watch a movie with Aquari, but then losing the battle with sleep long before she did. He assumed Aquari must have decided to start cuddling him afterwards. Just as he finally freed himself from the taller girl's hug turned death grip, Aquari was finally roused from her own sleep by Sear's struggling.

"Mm, what time is it?" She yawned, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. Once Rose was done enjoying herself, she rolled her eyes at her sister's question.

"A better question would be when you decided to go to bed. It's almost time for work and you still need to shower. Yet, you seem to be busy turning Sear into a little 'pyro ball'." She nodded her head to the embarrassed rabbit behind her, who quickly averted his eyes from the pair. "So come on, get in the shower, sleepy head." Aquari stayed laying there on the floor, still curled up in her blankets, staring up at Rose with tired eyes, before dropping her head back onto her pillow.

"Five more minutes." She simply stated, making it obvious she wasn't asking, closing her eyes to attempt to sleep a bit more. Rose's smirk disappeared as she dropped her head and dramatically sighed. She stood back up to her full height and began walking past her younger sister. Without looking back, Rose's feelers then shot out from her bows and wrapped around Aquari's arms and torso, startling the younger girl.

"Eep-!" She yelped, being dragged across the ground to the nearest bathroom.

"Feel free to use my shower, Sear." Rose said, still casually walking as Aquari struggled against the iron grip of Rose's feelers. "You know where to find the towels that fit you, right?" She asked, to which Sear simply nodded. Rose smiled in response, before walking out of sight with Aquari in tow.

"Reminds me of my sisters." Sear chuckled, making his way towards the offered shower. Making sure that he grabbed his spare clothes, toothbrush, toothpaste and brush before closing and locking the door behind himself. He turned the shower to its hottest possible temperature, took off his pajamas and stepped in, sighing as the hot water washed over his body, preparing for the day ahead.

. . . . .

"Oh, right, forgot to tell you two that the new girl should be in today." Rose said, the three riding to Café Silver. Sear looked up to her with a questioning look, sitting in the passenger seat next to her this time. Aquari was sprawled in the back, trying to get a few more minutes of sleep.

"New girl?"

"Yeah? Don't you remember?" She took a quick glance towards the rabbit Pokémon. "Or, maybe I forgot to tell you." Rose said, sheepishly scratching her cheek with a finger. "Her name is Eli, a sweet Raichu. I had an interview with her last week and today's her first day." She informed, staying focused on the road.

"Can you two keep it down? I'm trying to sleep." Aquari mumbled from the back, not even bothering to open her eyes. Rose rolled her eyes, before snaking a feeler back to her sister and poking her in the stomach, getting a surprised jolt from the girl as her eyes shot open. "Please! Don't do that! I'm ticklish!"

"That's exactly why I did it." Rose peered at Aquari through the rearview mirror. "At least you're up now, right?" Aquari said nothing, instead choosing to pout, puffing up her cheeks. Sear couldn't help but chuckle at the sisters' antics.

Finally, the three pulled into the parking lot of the café. As they got out of the car, Rose noticed someone sitting alone at one of the outside tables.

"Early I see." She called out, getting the attention of the Raichu. "Nice to see you're on top of things." She smiled, making her way to Eli.

"O-oh, thank you ma'am!" She said, putting away her phone as Rose got closer. "To tell you the truth, I, uh, kinda forgot what time we opened, so I was just waiting here… for thirty minutes." She looked away, embarrassed. Rose let out a small giggle.

"Well, at least you're still here on time. Could have been worse for your first day."

"Well, I guess." Eli agreed, giving a small smile as she hopped down from the chair just as the other two caught up with Rose, Sear being given a piggyback ride by Aquari to avoid the still present snow. Sear noticed the look of shock on her face when her eyes landed on him. He could see that the girl wasn't much taller than himself, maybe two and a half feet tall. While also wearing the same uniform, she also was wearing snow boots to keep off the snow. They seemed a little large, but they more than likely fit her perfectly, given that Raichu had big paws for their height.

"Eli, this is my sister," Rose pointed a thumb towards the sleepy water type, "Aquari, and this," she moved her hand up to point to Sear, "is our friend, Sear." They both gave the electric type a small wave, Aquari giving a big smile, despite still being tired.

"It's nice to meet you both." Eli gave a bashful wave, seeming a little shy.

"What about we head inside? I know Sear is probably freezing his butt off." Rose suddenly said, fishing out her keys from her pocket.

"Gotta love the wonderful, wonderful cold." Sear stated with an eye roll. Eli found herself chuckling, turning to follow the tall fairy type to the door.

"Hopefully it's not as busy today. I want to rest." Aquari yawned, trekking forward as well.

"How late did you actually stay up?" The fire type questioned.

. . . . .

"Sear, can you start a large cappuccino for me?" Rose asked, just getting done with the register.

"On it, Rose." Sear nodded, hopping off to the back to make the beverage.

"Also make sure Aquari isn't asleep!" Rose added before he rounded the corner. Just as he made his way to the back, he found Aquari sitting on the stool, hunched over and sound asleep. Sear shook his head, walking over to the vaporeon.

"Aquari." He poked her leg. No response. "Aquari." He tried again, saying her name a little louder. Still nothing. "Aquari, wake up!" Sear said much louder, gently kicking her foot with his heel. The girl was still out cold. Sear huffed, putting his hands on his hips.

"Is she okay?" Eli asked, concerned as she came up on the other side of the taller girl.

"Yeah, she's fine. She stayed up late last night since I stayed over, so she's been trying to get some extra hours in." Sear rolled his eyes.

"Oh. You stayed over at her house?" Eli asked, walking up and gently shaking Aquari's leg.

"Yeah, I sometimes stay over. Aquari always gets excited when I do, so we treat it as a sleep over, and it's because of that she stays awake a lot of the time." Sear explained, before a thought crossed his mind. "Eli, do you mind giving her a little shock to wake her up?" He smirked, she did kind of bring this upon herself.

"W-what?" Eli asked, nervous. "I can't do that. Can I?" She grabbed her tail, messing with the tip of the bolt.

"It's fine. Just a little jolt to wake her up. And don't worry, Rose does worse, trust me." Eli looked at Sear, then back up to Aquari, before giving one last nervous glance back at Sear. She finally relented, giving a small sigh before rubbing her cheeks, generating electricity. Feeling that the charge was enough, she took a deep inhale before poking Aquari with her finger.

"Ow!" Aquari bolted up from the stool, wide eyed. She looked around, her eyes immediately landing on Sear, who was trying to hold in a laugh. Then she saw Eli, he was desperately trying to avoid eye contact by hiding her face behind the bolt of her tail. Putting together what happened, she puffed her cheeks up in a pout.

"Sear!" She whined, knowing he was the mastermind behind this.

"What? You know you're not supposed to sleep on the job. Plus, Rose asked me to make sure you're awake." Sear scolded, eliciting a huff from the taller girl, before she headed to the front to resume her duties. "Thanks for the help Eli. And don't worry, she won't be pouty for long."

"If you say so." Eli responded, uneasy. Her ears perked up at the sound of the oven being done. She turned on her heel and went to check on the blueberry bagel she had put in, thankful for an escape. Getting back to his own work, Sear scooted the stool over to get to where he needed to be at the counter.

"It's nice not being the only small one on the team now." Sear said off handed, preparing the cappuccino. Eli looked over to him, holding the bagel in her hands.

"If you don't mind me asking, how are you so small? I thought cinderaces were supposed to be taller. If you're, um, comfortable with that question." She asked, nervously glancing at him as she bagged the food.

"I don't mind. I was just born with microsm."

"Microsm? What is that exactly?" Eli tilted her head, a look of confusion plastered on her face.

"It's, well, kind of what you see." Sear gestured to himself with a hand. "I was just born smaller than average. Much smaller. It's a pretty rare condition, so that's probably why you haven't heard of it."

"Oh. Sorry, it was just strange when I first saw how small you were. I've never seen anything like it." Sear couldn't help but chuckle.

"It's fine. You should have seen Aquari when I first met her. The girl almost forgot how to breathe; she was so surprised." This comment got Eli to giggle a bit, before heading up front to deliver the bagel. Sear soon followed, holding the cappuccino in both his small hands.

"Hey, Sear." Rose called out to him as he hopped up onto the front counter stool. "Take a look at who's here." She smirked, nodding her head in a certain direction. Sear raised an eyebrow, looking towards where Rose was gesturing. That's when he saw her. It was that lopunny again, sitting at a table with a gardevoir. Though 'sitting at a table' was a bit of a stretch, instead, she was sitting next to the table, her long legs stretched out, reaching past the gardevoir, who was sitting opposite of her.

Sear couldn't hear what they were talking about, but she seemed to be enjoying herself.

"Didn't think I'd see your 'one true love' the next day as well." Rose winked, flustering the small rabbit.

"Rose. Shut up." He said through clenched teeth, already feeling his face heat up. "Go away and do your work." He playfully shoved at her as hard as he could, which only resulted in her arm moving a bit.

"Fine, fine. Just try not to gawk." She ruffled up the fur on his head, before walking away, gaining a groan from her friend. After fixing up his fur as best he could, he looked ever the name of the order.

"Ven?" He called out.

"About time." He heard a pompous voice to his left. Turning, he came face to face with a thievul. "Honestly, any other café would have had my order out ages ago."

'_Oh boy, one of these guys, huh?' _Sear mentally rolled his eyes.

"Regardless, at least the wait is over. I can finally-" Ven suddenly stopped mid-sentence, holding the beverage in his hand. "… What is this?" He then asked, looking down at Sear, annoyance thickly lacing his voice.

"Uh, your order… sir?" Sear said, unsure as to what he was getting at.

"No, it obviously is not." The thievul stated, taking a sudden high and mighty attitude. "I _very _clearly asked for a caffè misto, but instead, I receive this _filth_." He made sure to put stress on the word 'filth' even beyond his accent.

"Then, I'm sorry sir. It was a simple mistake. We'll get your right order out as quickly as possible; it'll be on the house for the mistake." Sear responded. He really didn't want to deal with this right now, he never liked dealing with customers like this guy.

"Oh, don't bother." The pompous voice continued, at this point, many customers were staring. Even Rose and the others were watching. "This has all but proved to me that I mustn't waste my time with such an establishment. Your incompetence is disgraceful." The thievul then popped off the lid of the drink, before reaching over and dumping it all over Sear, gaining gasps from nearby Pokémon. While his fire typing kept the scalding coffee from severely hurting him, it stung nonetheless.

"… Ow." Sear said after a moment, standing still as the remains of the beverage began to soak into his fur.

"Let this serve as a lesson to you, little rabbit." Ven said condescendingly. Rose's feelers flared up in rage, a look of murder in her eyes. Just as she was about to stomp over and give that thievul a piece of her mind, someone beat her to it.

"Hey!"

"Ugh, what could it possibly be… now?" Ven had turned around, expecting to be looking at someone around his height. Instead, he found himself looking at the hem of a black jacket. Looking up, he saw two pink and black eyes staring angrily down at him. He took a step back, caught off guard by the giant lopunny that had stepped up to confront him.

"There is absolutely no need to act like a prick." Rae said, clearly annoyed with his attitude that he had displayed. "If you're so 'disappointed', with the service here, then leave. And don't assault someone who's trying his best to accommodate you. The world doesn't revolve around you, buddy." She crossed her arms. Ven, having recovered from his initial shock, took a stance of his own.

"You _dare _talk to me as if I am equal to you?! I am Ven, son of-"

"I couldn't care less about who you are." Rae cut him off. "You could be royalty, and it wouldn't mean jack with how you acted. Now, you can either leave, or I can help you leave. I'm being nice and giving you a choice." She threatened, bending down to loom over him. The thievul, however, didn't seem too fazed.

"You talk to me as if I'm some lowly peasant like you, and now you threaten me?!" Rae sighed, looks like he wants to do this the hard way. "I'll have you know that I can-grk!" Ven was silenced by Rae grabbing his head, her large hands easily able to palm his face. Effortlessly, she dragged the Pokémon out of the front of the store. Once outside, she casually tossed him to the ground.

"Don't make me hurt you." She said, placing a hand on her hip. Ven, however, didn't seem to listen. He picked himself up, facing Rae as a shadow claw appeared on his right hand. The normal type couldn't help but shake her head as he leapt forward. Using her long reach, she easily caught his arm in her hand, the claw harmlessly passing through her. "Are you stupid? Whatever. You asked for this." She stated, taunting him with a wink and smirk.

She threw his arm aside, the shadow claw disappearing, before placing her large paw on the thievul's chest. She then pushed him to the ground, stomping him. Ven coughed in pain from the immense force. Rae then stepped off him, before snapping her fingers, dark clouds forming in the sky over them as she did so. Thunder shot down from the clouds, with the clear intention of electrocuting Ven.

The café watched in both awe and some fear at how strong this lopunny was. Sear was entranced, both by the thunder, and how Rae was immediately there to stand up for him.

"You know, I'm really starting to like this girl." Rose quipped, watching the light show die off. Finally, the thunder died down, leaving behind a very satisfied Rae, and a scorched, smoldering, unconscious, Ven on the pavement. Having finished her job, Rae turned around and re-entered the café, ignoring all the looks she got as she returned to her seat. Eventually, everyone went back to what they were doing prior to the interruption. Rose tapped Sear on the shoulder.

"Sear, go ahead and take a break. You can borrow some of the spare clothes in the backroom and change in the employee restroom. Take as long as you want today." She patted his back, before turning around to get back to her own work. Sear silently thanked her, before jumping down and heading to the back, assuring Eli and Aquari that he was fine as he passed by them.

. . . . .

Sear sighed as he plopped himself down onto a couch in a new pair of clothes and as dry as he could be, though he still smelled of coffee.

"Could be worse I guess." He said to himself, pulling out his phone to pass the time. But he was suddenly interrupted.

"Um, excuse me." Sear recognized that voice, turning around, he saw Rae looking down at him. "I'm sorry, I completely forgot to ask if you were alright after that." She said, a look of concern in her eyes. Sear shyly waved his hand dismissively.

"Oh, I'm fine, don't worry about it. It didn't burn that badly." He stated. Rae nodded, seemingly relieved.

"Still, I'm sorry you had to deal with that prick." She glanced over at the spot where the thievul had been, who had been taken to a Pokémon Center by now. "Do you mind if I sit?" She suddenly asked, catching Sear slightly off guard.

"Oh, uh, no, go right ahead." He shyly smiled. Rae returned the smile, slowly lowering herself onto the couch next to Sear. Once confirming that the couch would not collapse under her weight, she allowed herself to sit comfortably. Sear couldn't help but feel even smaller than normal. She was almost five times his size. Her long legs, her long arms, large hands and body. Everything about her was just… big.

"Do you guys usually deal with Pokémon like that?" She asked.

"No, not really. He was the first one in a long while. But even then, the last guy wasn't nearly as bad as that thievul. If you hadn't stepped in, I'm sure Rose, the sylveon you might have seen steaming in the corner would have happily beaten him up instead." Sear nervously laughed. Rose is _terrifying _when she gets angry.

"I saw that. Looked like she wanted to put him six feet under." She chuckled. "Oh, right, I never did properly introduce myself. I'm Rae, though you already knew that." She smiled, offering her hand to the smaller rabbit. While temporarily caught off guard with the sheer size of her hand, Sear took her hand, well, her index finger, as Rae gently grasped Sear's comparatively miniscule hand in between her index finger and thumb.

"Sear." They shook. From the counter, Rose, Aquari, and Eli watched it all unfold.

"Who's that? His girlfriend?" Eli asked, curious. Rose and Aquari looked at each other before giggling.

"No, not yet at least." Rose giggled.


	4. Chapter 3

As the day went on, and customers came and went, Rae and Sear continued to converse at a couch and table, having established a friendship with each other after the events that had transpired today.

"- the poor principal nearly had an aneurysm after she found out what we did. We ended up having to clean up all the foam from her office afterward, but I think we set the standard that year. Well, that is if they even allow any other senior pranks after that." Rae laughed as she concluded her story of her senior prank. Sear was laughing along with her. "Oh man." The lopunny exhaled, calming herself down. "Did you get to do a senior prank?" She asked the smaller rabbit. Sear responded with a shake of his head.

"No, the seniors from the previous year almost set the school on fire, so we were banned from doing a prank of our own. Which sucked since we had been planning one since we were freshmen." Sear explained.

"Wow, that does suck."

"Having fun with your new friend, Bigpaw?" Rae rolled her eyes at the new voice.

"Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about you, Lexia." Rae turned her attention to the gardevoir who sat on the couch opposite of them, crossing her legs. Sear took the opportunity to study her. Lexia was a shiny gardevoir, sporting blue hair and hands, her hair covering her left eye. She wore a grey sweater with red stripes. She also wore a white skirt, black leggings and brown boots. She seemed to be shorter than Rose, maybe about 5'4".

"I hope not." Lexia jokes.

"Bigpaw?" Sear tilted his head.

"It's a dumb little nickname she came up for me not long after we met in middle school. For obvious reasons." Rae shook her head, smiling despite herself. "Anyways, this is Lexia, Sear."

"Hey." Lexia gave a small wave, as Sear shyly waved back. "Sear, how tall are you?" She then asked, leaning forward, curious.

"Lexia." Rae gave a disapproving glare.

"What? I'm just curious." Sear shook his head.

"It's fine, I don't mind talking about it. I'm two feet tall."

"Because of microsm, right?" Sear would be lying if he said he wasn't a little shocked.

"You know what that is?"

"Well, yeah. I'm friends with this giant." Lexia nodded towards the brown and pink rabbit, gaining another eye roll from her companion. "After I learned about her condition, I eventually learned of microsm when looking it up. Though, you're the first one I've come across with it."

"Oh, I guess that makes sense." Sear couldn't help but feel happy that someone else was aware of this condition's existence.

"Anyway." Rae spoke up, bringing the attention to herself. "Do you want to know how tall I am, Sear?"

"Looking for more opportunities to brag?" Lexia leaned onto her arm, smirking.

"Shut it." Rae reached over and playfully kicked the psychic and fairy type. "I know for a fact you wished you were as tall as me." The normal type crossed her arms smugly as a small blush appeared on the gardevoir's face. "I saw you looking up ways to grow taller." Sear couldn't help but giggle as Lexia was being called out.

"Shut up."

"Jealous?"

"How tall are you, Rae?" Sear asked, bringing an end to the teasing session. Rae smirked.

"I'm 8'7"." She proudly proclaimed, placing her hands on her hips, making it no secret that she was prideful of her size.

"Show off." Lexia mumbled under her breath, shaking her head. Hearing her, Rae couldn't help but stick her tongue out at her friend.

"You're at least taller than average."

"By an _inch_. It's hardly noticeable." Lexia pouted. "I'm pretty sure I'm shorter than the sylveon here."

"Rose?" Sear spoke up. "Yeah, she's super tall for her species. She's 5'7"." Upon hearing this, Lexia visibly pouted more, while Rae giggled.

"Okay enough of picking on me!" Lexia raised her hands into the air, standing up. "We need to go and meet up with Sandy and them anyway, so we should probably get going."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Rae said, standing up as well, once again showing off her height.

"Meeting up with some friends?" Sear asked, standing on the couch in an attempt to be closer in height with the two girls.

"Yeah, we were just stopping by to wait for them. It was nice getting to meet you though, even if we met because someone assaulted you." Rae said, a look of uncertainty on her face.

"It was nice to watch you kick his ass though." Lexia commented, grabbing her drink.

"It was nice to meet you two as well! You should bring your other friends with you next time." Sear suggested, hoping to be able to see them again.

"Definitely. I know I'll be making regular visits here. This place is great." Rae smiled down at Sear.

"Actually," Lexia got their attention. "Sear, is this place hiring? I'm in kind of need of a job since I quit my last one. The boss was a total creep." She said, the last part barely audible as she mumbled it under her breath.

"Oh right, you do need a job, huh?" Rae put a finger to her chin.

"Did you really forget?" Lexia raised an eyebrow, making Rae look away nervously.

"W-what? No, of course not." She waved a hand, gaining a chuckle from Sear.

"Yeah, we're always looking for new Pokémon to join. I'll be sure to let Rose know that you're interested. Just submit a resume and you'll more than likely be seen shortly afterwards." Sear smiled, gaining a nod and smile from Lexia.

"Nice, you can probably get me some discounts then." Rae joked, reaching down for her own drink from the table which, again, looked tiny in her large grasp.

"Don't count on it." Lexia remarked, gaining an annoyed look from the female rabbit Pokémon. Rae turned around, reaching toward the couch, but stopped halfway.

"Wait, where's my-"

"Purse?" Lexia cut her off, producing a large, pink purse from behind her, holding it in her psychic ability. "You're lucky you have me around. You would probably lose your own ears if they weren't hanging off your head." Lexia shook her head, levitated the purse into Rae's hands, who was blushing in embarrassment.

"Quiet, shorty, let's just go." Rae said, already heading towards the door. Lexia rolled her eyes before following her friend, giving Sear a wave as she passed him. Sear hopped off the couch, seeing the two girls out. As the two reached the door, Rae turned around before flashing Sear a smile and flashing him a peace sign with her hand. Just as she turned around to leave, she ended up smacking her forehead against the top of the door hard, making the fire type flinch.

Rae tensed up in pain, gritting her teeth, backing up and putting her free hand over her bump.

"Nice one, Bigpaw. Maybe I'm not as jealous now." Lexia snickered, passing in front of her friend and having no trouble going through the door. Rae gave out a cute growl before following the gardevoir, making sure to duck this time. After the two had left, Sear made his way to the back, planning on getting back to work.

"Hey lover boy," Aquari greeted as Sear opened the door to the back, catching him off guard. "have fun with your girlfriend?" A blush once again overtaking his face, Sear looked away from her, mumbling something under his breath. He made his way past her, trying to clock in. Upon finding his way to the computer, he was greeted by Rose, who had a smirk on her face.

"Don't." Sear said as she opened her mouth. "I already heard from Aquari; I don't need to hear it from you too." Rose chuckled, choosing to keep her mouth shut just this once. She instead decided to ruffle up the fur on top of the rabbit Pokémon's head before walking off. The small fire type rolled his eyes as he fixed up his fur. As he hopped onto the chair to finally clock back in, another voice emerged.

"Hey Sear, who was that lopunny?" Eli asked, coming across her similarly short coworker. Sear, not aware if she was looking to tease him more or genuinely curious, shot her a look. The small raichu yelped and hid behind her tail, timidly backing away.

. . . . .

Finally, the time came when the last customer of the day eventually left, leaving the three girls and one guy to clean up around Café Silver.

"Hey Eli." Rose called out, getting the small Pokémon's attention as she finished wiping down the counter.

"Yes, ma'am." She asked, standing at attention as she was caught off guard.

"Don't worry about the honorifics with me. You can just refer to me as Rose. I want to be seen as your partner, not your boss." Rose gave a warm smile, easing Eli's tension a bit.

"Oh, alright ma- er, Rose." Eli nervously smiled back.

"There we go. Now, what kind of drink do you like?" Eli tilted her head, confusion overtaking her smile.

"Uh, well, I like black coffee." Eli answered. Rose's eyes widened in shock, caught off guard by the electric type's answer. "Is… is that weird?"

"Uh-no, it's not at all. I was just… surprised is all. But, what about a drink for the night?" Rose said after she recovered from her initial shock. Eli hummed in thought for a moment, before answering once more.

"I do like lemonade." She said, gaining a nod from Rose.

"Sounds good. I'll be back in a moment." Rose said, turning away from the girl and heading to the back, leaving behind a confused Eli. Unsure what else to do, she climbed down from the stepstool. After a moment, Sear emerged from the back, holding his coffee-soaked clothing in a plastic bag in one hand and holding hot chocolate in the other.

"Hey Eli, almost done cleaning?" Sear asked as he neared her.

"I just finished up actually. Are you heading home?" The raichu asked, pushing the stool underneath the counter.

"Oh no, I'm getting ready for our afterwork tradition. Are you going to join us or are you heading home?"

"Afterwork… tradition?" Eli tilted her head cutely.

"Yeah? Did Rose not tell you?" Sear also tilted his head in response. "We always get together after everyone clears out. We just have drinks and talk before heading home."

"Here we are Eli." Rose appeared from the back, holding her drink in one hand and the smaller drink filled with lemonade for Eli.

"Rose, did you forget to tell Eli what we do after hours?" Sear turned around, looking up at the taller sylveon, making her stop in her tracks.

"Uh…" Rose tried to recall, looking down at the two smaller Pokémon.

"I think your old age is getting to you, Rose." Aquari quipped from the front of the counter. Rose shot her a glare, which only prompted the water type to giggle in response. Sear also couldn't help but chuckle, while Eli silently asked the fire type how old Rose actually was. After a short explanation from Rose, Eli agreed to stay with the three.

Happily accepting the drink from Rose, she and Sear followed the two taller girls to a nearby table. Aquari quickly grabbed some nearby pillows for their smaller friends.

"So, Eli, how was your first day?" Rose asked as she sat down across from her and Sear. Aquari soon followed afterwards, sitting by her sister this time.

"It was a lot easier than I was expecting it to be. I was afraid I was going to mess a lot of things up." Eli visibly squirmed in her seat, nervous about saying something wrong. "Though, I was kind of scared about what happened to Sear." She turned to the small rabbit, giving him a concerned look.

"Yeah. What was that guy's name? Ven or whatever? Dick" Aquari grumbled, taking an angry sip of her milk.

"How are you after that Sear?" Rose asked, concern laced in her voice. Sear shook his head, giving them a smile.

"I'm alright, honestly. It barely hurt thanks to my fire typing. If anything, I was more annoyed that my clothes were soaked. But other than that, I'm good. Plus, I got the satisfaction of watching Rae beat him up afterwards." Sear reassured them. Aquari, recovering from her pout, pursed her lips in a smirk at the mention of the lopunny.

"Are you sure it's not because you got to talk to her afterwards?" The water type leaned forward, resting her head in her hands.

"Why? I thought we were done with this." Sear groaned, hiding his face as he felt it heating up. Rose shook her head at her sister's antics. Looking over at Eli, she saw the girl on her phone. Curious, she got her attention.

"Everything alright Eli?"

"Huh? Oh, everything's fine." She said, pocketing her phone. "My brother is a part of a rescue team, so he sometimes tells me about any crazy stuff that he encounters on his adventure." She smiled, looking up at Rose.

"You have a brother?" Aquari asked, the subject distracting her from her continued teasing assault of the now red-hot fire rabbit. "And he's a dungeon explorer?"

"Yes, he's been one for… almost a year now? I think. He told me today was the first day he encountered a savage Pokémon, as he's only encountered feral Pokémon up until then."

"A savage, huh?" Rose murmured. Savage Pokémon are Pokémon that are like Rose or Eli but have lost their intelligence and become violent and animalistic, usually running on all fours or lacking clothing. On the other hand, feral Pokémon are naturally animalistic, such as many bug types like snoms, or some water types, like a wailord. "Is he alright after the encounter?"

"He's fine. He said since his teammate had a type advantage over them, he wasn't in too much danger."

"Is he a raichu like you?" Sear asked, recovering from his earlier harassment. Eli shook her head.

"No, he's still a pikachu. He has a thunderstone ready, but he wants to become an Alolan raichu. He's hoping that he'll be able to visit the region on one of his missions so he can finally evolve."

"You know, our parents are actually retired dungeon explorers." Rose commented, getting the younger girl's attention.

"Of course, you remember that, but not the simpler things." Aquari quipped, giving Rose a smug, shit-eating grin. That is until a feeler wrapped around her head and covered her mouth.

"Your parents were dungeon explorers too?" Eli asked, trying to ignore the abuse the water type was experiencing.

"Yeah. For the most part, it was only them, but they were a great team from what they have told us. They actually met on a mission. Before they teamed up, our dad went on solo missions because he had his Eevo Pearl. It helped to boost his power, so he could handle himself most of the time. However, he ended up getting cornered by some savage Pokémon.

"When it looked like he was going to die there, he started to feel the ground shake. The next thing he knew, the savage Pokémon were blown away, and he was looking up at a giant 60 foot, in his words, 'extremely fluffy eevee'."

"Wait, mom can dynamax?" Aquari interrupted, prying the feeler from her mouth.

"First of all, she can gigantamax. Second, how did you not know? Don't you remember that she used to always joke about how I got my height from her?" Rose asked, bewildered that her sister was unaware of their mom's gigantamax ability.

"Well, I thought she said that because she was tall." The water type tilted her head.

"Mom isn't even two feet tall!" Rose let out a sigh, shaking her head. "Anyway, that's how our mom and dad met. After that encounter, they ended up teaming up, and the rest is history." Rose concluded quickly.

"I wish I knew mom could dynamax-"

"Gigantamax."

"-I would love to dynamax myself." Aquari put a finger to her chin, already daydreaming.

"Sounds like a bad idea in the making." Sear raised an eyebrow, a look of concern on his face.

"Oh, c'mon Sear! It would be fun! Heck, even you could dynamax!" Aquari reasoned, making Sear think about what she said.

"I… well…" Sear stammered; he couldn't say he wasn't interested in the idea. "Well, it would be an experience I guess."

"Sear, don't encourage her." Rose said.

"Wouldn't you want to be a giant too?" Aquari turned to her sister, stars in her eyes at the prospect of being huge.

"I'm already tall enough as is. I don't see why I need to be any taller." Rose stated, making Aquari pout.

"You're no fun. What about you, Eli?" She turned to the last Pokémon at the table, gaining a look of surprise from the electric type.

"Uh, I don't know. I feel like going from being small to being super big would be… scary?" Eli responded, seemingly unable to find the right words. "I'm not sure." She looked away, nervous.

"I'm sure it won't be that bad. What about just for the experience?" Aquari tried to encourage the raichu to join her enthusiasm in being giant. Just then, the door to the front of the café opened. Rose sighed, not looking towards the entrance.

"Sorry, we're closed now, I'm-"

"Blaze!" Aquari cried out, startling everyone at the table. She jumped out of her seat and ran towards the front. The rest turned towards what Aquari was running towards. At the entrance were three Pokémon.

"Nope!" A deep, yet still feminine voice yelled out. The next moment, the female, shiny glaceon named Blaze shot an ice beam out from her hand, encasing Aquari in ice, stopping her in her tracks.

"Blaze, I'm happy to see you, but what have I said about freezing your sister?" Rose questioned, getting up from her own seat. Sear shook his head while Eli had a look of horror on her face.

"She was going to tackle me." Blaze stated matter of factly, crossing her arms. She wore a long, thin grey hoodie and jeans, and her 'hair' hung down to her hips. She was also tall like Rose, standing at 5'4". Rose sighed, putting a hand to her head.

"Hey guys!" The leafeon behind Blaze yelled out, jumping onto the glaceon's shoulder, much to her annoyance.

"Hey Ivy." Sear waved, still at the table. Ivy wore a green cardigan, a white blouse and jeans as well as sneakers. She wasn't much taller than Aquari, being 4'7". While everyone was distracted, the last member of the trio, a flareon, was in the back finishing thawing out Aquari from her frozen prison. They both had a mischievous look, before sneaking up on Blaze and jumping on her back, tackling her to the ground along with Ivy.

The ice type had a look of murder, growling as she tried to push herself back up, but was unable to due to the combined weight of the three. Blitz, the male flareon, wore a red flannel and jeans, and stood at 4'10". The three shorter Pokémon were snickering like children after their combined effort to fell the giant. Rose and Sear couldn't help but join in on the laughter.

"Sear?" Eli leaned over, getting his attention. "Who are these three?" She asked, a look of concern and worry in her eyes.

"Oh, these are more of Rose's family. Blitz the flareon, Ivy the leafeon, and the seething glaceon filled with hatred is Blaze." Sear explained, failing to quell Eli's worry.

"How were mom and dad?" Rose asked, pulling up a chair instead of getting the two girls and guy off Blaze, agitating her. "I thought you were supposed to come in tomorrow."

"We were, but we ended up making it back earlier than expected, so we decided to surprise you guys." Ivy stated, making herself comfortable on top of Blaze by leaning back onto Blitz and crossing her legs. "Also mom and dad are doing great. Not much has changed with them since they moved into their new house. They've been enjoying spending time with each other."

"Can you asses get off me?!" Blaze yelled up from her spot on the ground. The three shared a look, before saying 'Nope!' in unison. Blaze groaned.

"Has anything changed here since we've been gone?" Blitz asked, who was currently being cuddled by Aquari.

"Well, we did get a new team member." Rose nodded her head back to Eli. Upon being made the center of attention to these scary Pokémon, she tried her best to hide behind Sear, though the size difference made that difficult. "And we might be getting another one soon." Before Rose could continue, Aquari cut her off.

"Also Sear got a girlfriend!" Sear's eyes widened as he became the center of attention.

"Oh god…"

"What?!" Ivy yelled out, a look of shock on her face as she put her hands to her cheeks.

"Who?!" Blitz questioned.

"The gremlin finally did it?" Even Blaze looked impressed.

"I do not!" Sear cried out, closing his eyes and clenching his fists as his face became red hot. "I don't have a girlfriend, and I'm not interested in anyone!" He finished by hiding his face with his ears.

"He's totally in love." Aquari whispered to Blitz, who couldn't help but chuckle.

"And in denial." Rose added. Finally growing tired of sitting on Blaze, Ivy got up from her living, seething seat. Feeling the weight on her lessen, Blaze was quick to act.

"Get off!" She yelled, pushing herself up and throwing off the remaining two Pokémon. While Aquari was able to jump off, Blitz on the other hand fell backwards, sliding off his taller sister. He turned around, able to catch himself before he hit the ground, but soon after, he went limp, choosing to lay on the ground. Aquari and Ivy started laughing as their brother played dead, while the ice type was dusting her clothes off, grumbling to herself.

"So I assume we're still getting together tomorrow?" Rose asked, getting up from her own seat.

"After all this? I don't think I want to." Blaze said, rolling her eyes. However, after saying that, she summoned Aquari by her side, who latched onto her arm.

"C'mon! It'll be fun!"

"Let go of me, fin-face!" Blaze tried pushing her sister off, but her iron grip proved to be too much for the shiny Pokémon.

"Will Sear still be making cookies?" Blitz asked, dropping his dead act and pushing himself off the ground. Sear, who had recovered from his earlier harassment, gave them a look.

"After you harassed me? I don't think I should." Blaze smiled as he mimicked what she said earlier.

"Cookies?" Eli asked, unable to hide her interest as her eyes sparkled. Sear turned around to answer her, but Ivy appeared behind him, placing her hand on his shoulders and head on his own.

"Yeah, Sear bakes. Actually, do you want to join us tomorrow? It'd be great to get to know you!" Ivy gave a toothy smile, radiating nothing but pure joy.

"Ivy, please get off. You're kind of heavy…" Eli looked at Ivy, then turned to Rose in the back, who gave her an encouraging thumbs up. After mulling it over in her head, she gave Ivy a small smile, still a bit weary.

"S-sure, I'd like to ."


	5. Chapter 4

Sear hopped onto the nearby chair, smiling as he observed his work. Dozens of fresh, still warm,, chocolate chip cookies, all neatly stacked on top of each other. After taking a moment to feel proud about his work, he leaned back on the chair and let out a sigh. Baking was far from easy when smaller than average, especially without any extra hands. But Sear always made it work, even if it left him tired afterwards. The rabbit pokemon was wearing a hoodie and jeans, helping to keep him warmer as the winter season quickly approached.

The fire rabbit's ear perked up at the sound of his doorbell going off, signalling that his friends had finally arrived. After taking a moment to prepare for the noise his friends would bring with them, Sear hopped off the chair and made his way to the living room, jumping onto a stool set off to the side of the front door, allowing him to reach the doorknob.

"Hey Sear!" Ivy announced as she walked into the house, giving Sear a pat on the head as she walked by him, nearly making him topple over in the process. The grass type was soon followed in by Blaze, who gave a casual wave as she passed by the small rabbit still trying to right himself. Then came the other fire type of the group, Blitz, who gave Sear a high five as he passed by.

Next was Aquari, who was now wearing leggings and a blue hoodie, as well as long, black boots. She gave the small rabbit a quick, tight hug, before going to join her siblings in the living room. After taking a moment to fix the fur on top of his head, Sear took a peek outside to see where Rose was, seeing that she was standing at the sidewalk, looking out into the distance. Wondering what she was doing, Sear hopped off the stool and made his way to his taller friend, making sure to avoid any patches of melting snow that still littered the ground.

"Hey Rose, what are you up to?" Sear greeted, getting the attention of the sylveon as he walked up to her. Rose was now wearing a frilly blouse that had lacy sleeve ends and jeans as well as a pair of black flats. She turned away from the street, looking down at the source of the voice.

"Oh, hey Sear. Sorry, I'm just waiting for Eli, she asked me to stand out in the front of the house so she knew where to go." Rose smiled down at her friend before returning her gaze down the sidewalk. She squinted her eyes, spotting something in the distance. "I think… that's her?" Tilting his head, Sear turned his gaze to where Rose was looking. In the distance was a series of quick bursts of light, rapidly closing the distance between it and the two pokemon on the sidewalk.

Eventually, the light reached Rose and Sear, dimming to reveal an exhausted Eli. She hunched over, breathing heavily, desperately trying to catch her breath. She raised a hand in a slight wave to the fairy and fire type, still maintaining eye contact with the ground. Sear and Rose shared a look, not sure what to do except waiting for the electric type to recover.

Once Eli was mostly able to breathe normally, she looked up to Rose and Sear and properly greeted them with a smile, though her exhaustion was still apparent.

"Hi guys." She greeted with the most composure she could muster at the present moment. "Sorry, I got a little lost in the neighborhood while speeding around, using quick for an extra boost. I apologize if I'm late or a bother." Sear waved a hand to dismiss her worries.

"Don't worry about it. You're just on time actually, everyone else just arrived." Sear smiled. "Come on, let's get inside, before there are no cookies left by the others." He said, leading the two towards the house. Eli smiled as she walked beside Rose, who was far too used to walking at a slower pace to stay in line with the two smaller pokemon.

"Oh, your flats are really cute!" Eli commented as she noticed Rose's shoes.

"Thanks. You would not believe how hard it was to find a pair in my size. Your shoes are cute too." Rose noted, taking the moment to take in the outfit the electric type wore, a sweater, jeans and laced up slippers. As the trio made it inside, Sear spotted a troubling sight near what was formerly the cookie pile.

"Guys!" Sear cries out, getting the attention of Aquari and Ivy, both faces stuffed with cookies and cheeks covered in crumbs. They stared back at Sear, wide eyed and stopping mid chew realising that they'd been caught. Blitz, next to the two, was occupied pouting, as he was previously, unable to get his hands on a single cookie. "Seriously you two? That was at least 3 dozen cookies, gone in an instant." Sear crossed his arms, scolding the girls. The two said nothing, instead choosing to look between each other. Eli's ears drooped a tad, sad that she couldn't try one of Sear's cookies but enjoying the scene in front of her nonetheless, while Rose looked disappointed, though impressed that they ate all of the cookies so fast.

"Sear." Blaze called out, who was sitting at the couch with a book in hand. In her other hand, the glaceon held a single cookie wrapped in a napkin. "Managed to snag one before the vultures got to them." She said before tossing over to Sear, who was caught off guard but managed to gently catch it in his hands.

"Thanks!" Sear smiled before turning to Eli, who had a look of wonder. "Here you are Eli." Sear looked up to her, offering the cookie. Eli looked between him and the treat before gently taking it off his hands. She examined it for a short moment, before taking a small bite. As soon as it hit her tongue, the electric type squealed with pure joy, rocking back and forward with a huge smile on her face. She quickly finished the bit in her mouth before going for another bite of the cookie.

"Good, right?" Rose smiled, happy to see Eli happy. She happily nodded, her mouth full at the moment.

"Guess I should make more then." The fire type shrugged. Hearing this, Ivy and Aquari got visibly excited. "Not for you two though. You two have had more than enough."

"Awww, come on!" The two girls groaned in unison, gaining a chuckle from Blitz and an eye roll from Blaze, who had gone back to her book.

. . . . .

As Rose busied herself with helping Searmake another batch of cookies, the other five were scattered around Sear's house and to their own things. Eli was in the kitchen with the two bakers, chatting away. Meanwhile, the living room was occupied by the other four guests. Blaze was on the couch reading her book, or at least trying to. Having trouble concentrating with the mischievous trio in the same room itching for trouble.

"No! You cannot- If you no-hit me right now, and this controller is going through the wall!" Ivy cried out.

"Oh, that's some motivation then! Sear needs to redecorate his walls anyways!" Aquari smirked. The two were fighting each other in a game, and Ivy was badly losing the match. Blitz sat on the side lines, watching and waiting his turn.

"Ooh, surprise!" The grass type exclaimed, managing to pull off a counter attack.

"No!" The water type cried out, disappointed she couldn't completely annihilate Ivy. Even Blitz felt pity for the vaporeon as Ivy managed to get a hit in.

"That's it, I'm going into a different room to read! You three are impossible to focus with!" Blaze announced, standing up from the couch and about to stomp out. Unfortunately for her, Blitz acted fast and dove for her legs, latching onto them. "Hey, let go!"

"Not until you decide to play a round." He gave a mischievous look. The two girls were quickly at her paws too, having paused the game in favor of messing with their sister.

"That's a lose-lose for me then!" Blaze grumbled, starting to attempt to drag her legs and, subsequently, her siblings, across the floor. Despite her efforts, she wasn't making much distance and was quickly tiring out.

"Cookies are ready!" Sear called out. The three shot up from the ground, making their way to the kitchen leaving their previous antics forgotten. With a roll of her eyes, the ice type quickly made her way to the hall.

The three trouble makers popped into the kitchen, where Sear, Rose and Eli were awaiting, the electric type happily munching on a cookie of her own. Seeing the stack of fresh cookies, Aquari and Ivy made a bee-line for the stack. But before they could reach the plate, ribbon like feelers wrapped around their mouths and stomach as they were forcefully pulled away from the stack.

"No more for you two." Rose said, dragging the two out of the room as the girls struggled to get free.

"Is it bad that I'm starting to get used to this?" Eli asked in between bites.

"I don't think so. It happens pretty often, so it would be weird and impressive if you never got used to it." Sear shrugged. Seeing that the cookies were up for grabs, Blitz went ahead and took some cookies for himself making up for his earlier loss.

"Mmm! Still the best cookies I've ever had." The taller fire type complimented in between chews, making Sear a bit bashful.

"I'm going to go see if Blaze wants some real quick." The rabbit pokemon stated, hopping up to the nearby table to grab an extra plate. From there, he jumped up onto the stool to collect three cookies, just as Rose re-entered the kitchen after banishing her two sisters back to the living room. Speaking of who, Aquari was pouting, upset that she was banned from getting anymore cookies. Ivy, on the other hand, was fishing in her pocket.

She pulled out a small, white spray bottle, catching the attention of the nearby water type.

"What is that?" The shorter pokemon asked. Ivy gave her an evil grin before taking off her cardigan.

"Something fun." The grass type stated simply, taking a moment to tie her cardigan around her waist, telling Aquari it was time to start pranking someone. "Here, take a whiff." Ivy said in a hushed voice, moving the bottle closer to her sister's face, allowing her to take a quick smell.

"Oh-!"

"Don't make a scene! Don't make a scene!" Ivy urged as the water type covered her nose while backing away.

"What is that?!" Aquari questioned in a hushed voice as well, trying to keep cool.

"Fart spray. I found some when we were visiting our parents. I've been looking for an opportunity to use it. And I think now would be a great time to do so." The grass type said, watching as Sear walked by, carrying a plate of cookies. "Come." Ivy motioned, sneakily following the small fire type into the hall he disappeared into the hall. Aquari couldn't help but giggle as she followed behind.

"What are those two up to now?" Rose questioned, noticing the two creeping about, gaining a look from the small electric type below.

"Ivy and Aquari?"

"Yeah. That cardigan around her waist is bad news." Rose muttered, rubbing the back of her head, gaining an even more questioning look from Eli.

Sear walked down the hall, locating a single closed door, oblivious to the two larger figures following behind. The small rabbit knocked on the door before letting himself in. Blaze had held up in the guest bedroom, her jacket laying next to her leaving her in a dark gray t-shirt, her legs crossed as she laid across the bed.

"Hey Blaze, I brought some cookies in case you wanted some." Sear announced as he walked over to the night stand closest to the ice type's side.

"Oh, hey. Thanks. I had a feeling you were going to make more after those two inhaled the first batch." Blaze stated, placing a bookmark in her book before closing it.

"Yeah, probably should've made sure they came in last." The smaller pokemon chuckled, pushing the plate of cookies onto the nightstand. "Were those three keeping you from reading?"

"Yup. There was no way I was going to finish the chapter with them screaming." The taller girl said, swinging her legs off the bed, making sure not to kick the fire rabbit in the back. With the snacks in place, Sear hopped up next to Blaze onto the bed as she reached over for a cookie, before noticing someone standing in the door. "Speaking of who." Sear turned to look at what the shiny pokemon was looking at just in time to see Ivy close the door.

"She wasn't wearing her cardigan…" Sear fearfully noted, before his nose picked up on something, just as Blaze's did as well. "Oh god, what is that?" The fire type questioned, putting his hands over his nose.

"Ivy!" Blaze was heard yelling through the door that Ivy was holding shut.

"I might need someone strong to help me hold this." Ivy muttered in between chuckles. She could feel someone, presumably Blaze, pulling on the other side.

"Ivy, I swear!" She yelled, seemingly more muffled than before, followed by a gag.

"Quick, switch out!" Aquari urged. Ivy nodded, allowing the water type to grab hold of the doorknob, before turning around, her leaf tail glowing green before it extended out and wrapped around the doorknob as well.

"Do I even want to know?" Rose asked from the end of the hall, with Eli and Blitz peering in as well.

"Just some harmless fun." Ivy smiled, before nearly losing her balance as the door was pulled in a bit before being shut once again.

"The only thing preventing me from tearing this-*cough*-this door down is that it isn't our house!" Blaze roared, gaining a raised eyebrow from the tall fairy type.

"Girls, open the door." Rose said calmly, gaining looks of disapproval from the two sisters, but they gave in, letting go of the doorknob at the same time quickly fleeing behind the pink and white pokemon. Not soon afterwards, Blaze burst out from the room. She had wrapped her jacket around her neck and mouth, a makeshift mask to try and mitigate the horrible smell. In her right arm was Sear, carrying him by the waist as the fire type held his hoodie over his nose.

"What is wrong with you?!" The ice type questioned, glaring daggers at the two smaller girls cowering behind Rose.

"What even is that?" Sear asked. "It smelled so bad!"

"Fart spray." Aquari quipped, grinning like a schoolgirl who just got asked out by her crush.

"...Ew." Eli gave a look of disgust, catching a whiff of the lingering scent radiating from the bedroom. Even Rose and Blitz could smell the odor.

"Hey, it was Ivy's idea." The water type defended herself, gaining an eye roll from the leafeon.

"You guys used the fart spray without me?!" Blitz complained, holding his flannel over his nose. Ivy just gave her brother a blank stare.

"Uh…" The grass type looked for a response, but after failing to come up with one, she instead decided to spray another puff in the direction of Blitz. "Run!" She yelled at Aquari, who followed behind the fleeing leafeon without question.

"Why does there have to be chemical warfare happening in my house?!" Sear questioned, gagging once more as the fart spray made it's way throughout the hall. Eli and Rose were tugging their own clothing over their face, while Blitz was on the ground, 'dead'.

"I'm going outside!' Blaze announced, moving past the three and exiting the hall with Sear still in tow.

"We should probably get outside too. C'mon Blitz." Rose said, while gently poking her brother in the leg with her paw.

"Mm." Blitz mumbled, pretending to be dazed from waking up. "Alright, alright. Get your big paws out of my fmph-!" The fire type started, but was immediately shut up as Rose elected to instead drag Blitz out with her feelers, wrapping one around his mouth.

"C'mon, Eli."

"Right behind you." The little raichu nodded, desperately following to get away from the stench. Once outside and in Sear's front yard, Rose freed Blitz from her grasp, and dropped her shirt from her face, letting out a sigh of relief and taking in the fresh air. It was quickly followed by a disappointed sigh as she saw a large chunk of ice that had encased both Ivy and Aquari, stuck in what would have been animated and regret-free laughter.

Not far away was Blaze, looking positively satisfied as she laid in the grass next to the smaller Sear, her legs crossed and shaking her paw to a silent rhythm.

"Blaze…" Rose deadpanned, gaining the attention of the similarly tall glaceon, who didn't stop smirking.

"You can't lecture me about this, they both deserved it this time."

"I kind of agree." Sear interjected. "They pretty much gassed both of us. Plus, my house currently smells like… farts." He said, realizing half way through that he didn't have a good comparison for the horrible stench that had made it's residence in his house thanks to the two current poke-cicles. Rose sighed.

"Fine. Fine." The sylveon shook her head. "Well. Seeing as how the house is currently unlivable right now, what about we head over to the cafe?" She suggested.

"I'm not opposed to the idea. If we leave those two to thaw out here." Blaze chimed in.

"Same here." Sear agreed.

"I'm alright with anything." Eli nodded.

"Sounds good." Blitz concurred. Seeing as how the two remaining members of the group couldn't exactly respond, everyone assumed that they agreed to the idea ignoring Blaze's earlier comment.

"Alright. Blitz, Sear, can you two defrost Aquari and Ivy? Everyone else, let's head to my car."

. . . . .

Eventually, the group pulled up into the parking lot, with Eli falling close behind. She had elected to once again travel with the help of quick attack in order to let everyone else ride in the car, with Sear having to ride in Blaze's lap.

The fire rabbit had refused to ride with either Ivy or Aquari after their little stunt, and with Rose driving and Blitz not wanting to hold anyone on his lap, the shiny ice type was the only one willing to hold him.

However, as they were parking, Rose noticed some Pokémon were off to the side of the building. Once she turned off the car, she got out and quickly investigated.

"Rose?" The small Sear called out to her, though he went unheard as the fairy typed briskly walked over, just as Eli showed up.

"...-is why there's a stigma against dark types!" Rose could hear one of them saying. As she rounded the corner, she was shocked to find the shiny gardevoir that was friends with Rae. She was even more surprised to see that she had the same thievul from yesterday in her psychic grasp.

"Oh! Uh, hi." Lexia greeted once she noticed Rose, but not before slamming Ven into the ground.

"Hi… uh, what's going on?" The sylveon asked, putting a hand in her hip. Soon, everyone else had caught up with her.

"Uh, well. I was coming by to drop off my resume, but I didn't know you guys were closed on the weekends. So about to head back home, until I heard some strange sounds coming from the back of the cafe. I went to go see what those sounds were, hoping it was one of you so I could still drop off my resume.

"But I instead found this guy-" Lexia lifted Ven off the ground, who looked rather beat up. "trying to lock-pick his way into the back! He then tried attacking me after I caught him, leading to this situation." The shiny gardevoir explained.

"Wait, isn't that the same thievul that attacked Sear?!" Aquari popped up from the back.

"I wouldn't say atta-." Sear tried to chime in, but was promptly interrupted by Blaze.

"He did _what_?" She seethed.

"Yup. The same one. I guess he didn't learn his lesson after-." Lexia yelped in surprise as the dark type was shot out of her psychic hold by a large scale hydro pump, slamming him into the side of the building. Shortly after, an ice beam sealed him in an iceberg. The psychic/fairy type looked with a wide eye between the now brutally frozen Ven, and the two attackers.

Aquari, let out a sigh, her shoulders slumped as Blaze shook off some frost from her hands.

"Bastard." The ice type muttered.

"Well, that's certainly one way to solve a problem." Blitz quipped. Rose couldn't help but feel like a proud parent. She cleared her throat, bringing the attention to herself

"With that out of the way. I think we should probably introduce ourselves. I'm Rose, the owner of Cafe Silver. These are my siblings, Blaze, Aquari, Blitz and Ivy. The raichu is Eli, the newest member to our team." She pointed to each respective Pokémon, each greeting Lexia in their own way. "And you of course know Sear." Rose said, looking down to her left, the fire type giving a wave.

"Yup." Lexia smiled, waving back. "My name is Lexia. Oh, and Rae says hi, Sear." She quickly mentioned. The fire type couldn't help but shyly smile. That is, until he noticed four sets of eyes staring at him. Ivy and Blitz had matching looks of shock on their faces, as did Blaze but far more controlled, while Aquari has the widest grin Sear has ever seen. Rose simply rolled her eyes, but was unable to contain her smirk.

Lexia noticed all this, raising her eyebrow, confused. But she decided not to question it.

"Oh, right!" The gardevoir suddenly exclaimed, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a neatly folded paper. "This is my resume for the job, if you don't mind taking it." Rose nodded, stepping up to receive the document. Lexia couldn't help deflate a little once she noticed that Rose was in fact taller than her.

"Hm… it looks good. Would you be willing to have the interview right now since you're already here, or are you busy?" Rose questioned, catching the shiny Pokémon off guard.

"Oh, uh, yeah, sure! As long as I'm not interrupting anything."

"Not at all, it shouldn't be too long anyway. Here, follow me, I'll lead you inside." The sylveon motioned for everyone to follow as she headed to the entrance.

"Hey, leaf-head." Blaze called out, getting the attention of the leafeon. "Help me push Mr. Frosty here into traffic." She requested, already having her hands on the large scaled ice cube.

"Aw yis." The grass type chirped, walking over to her taller sister. Ven frozen with a look of pure fear in his eyes.


End file.
